Tears
by hobbitberry
Summary: There were only two times in her life that she had seen her daddy cry. The first was at her Grandfather Iroh's funeral.


**Okay, before you read this know that I do not ship Maiko. Xue is my own original character that I had written a long story about and it was posted on here for a very long time until I got a lot of hate/threatening to get my account deleted over a scene that I had worded poorly.. whatever. That's why its not on here anymore. This is not a Mai/Zuko baby, it's a Zuko/Xue baby and she's a little waterbender. **

**If you want to you can pretend that it's Mai's baby, because the point of the story is the child looking at Zuko. Xue doesn't really do much in this little drabble. **

**I hope you like it. **

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There were only two times in her life that she had seen her daddy cry.

The first was at her Grandfather Iroh's funeral.

He mommy held tight onto daddy's hand, as the man in white began to list off the names of her family members.

"Father of Lu Ten, now passed." The sound rang out. "Uncle to Zuko and Azula."

Celeste held up her small arms to her daddy, waiting for him to pick her up just like he always did. He didn't notice her. She tugged on his robe, and when he looked down, she reached her arms towards him again. He released his wife's hand and stooped down, picking Celeste up. He hugged her, and she felt her daddy cry, she kissed him on his scar, trying to make some of her daddy's pain go away. She was still too young to understand death, especially the death of someone like her Grandfather Iroh, who was important to so many people.

Her daddy's name was called and he put her down, but she clung to his robes as he walked forward. It was his turn to say something.

She liked to watch as he addressed the crowds, he had a way of drawing everyone in, making them all feel united. She liked to listen to his voice, which had a way of calming even the most irritable crowds. His confidence was radiated to those around him, lifting any down trodden spirits.

She grabbed fistfuls of his robes and looked up at him, surprised to see the tears streaming down his face. She couldn't even hear what he was saying, because her daddy, the strongest man in the world was crying. She didn't know why, but suddenly she started to cry too. She felt her mommy come and pry her tiny fingers off of Zuko's robes, before holding her and singing a soft song.

"Leaves from the vine, falling so slow." Xue sang to her daughter, gently swaying with the notes of the song.

Celeste held onto her mommy, her eyes fluttering shut with the exhaustion of crying and the lovely sound of her mothers voice. She looked at her daddy one last time before she fell asleep, to see him wiping his eyes and looking towards her and mommy.

The second time she saw her daddy cry, was clear in her mind. She was bit older now and although she was young, she had a solid grasp on the world.

Every year, during the same week, her mommy sent all of the palace servants away. Celeste hated this week the most. She was forced to putter around the house with her mommy, helping to make beds and to cook.

Until she was five, she never noticed that her daddy was usually sitting out by the pond alone. Sometimes she would sit on his lap, and feed the turtle ducks, but he never said much to her, just stroked her hair and hugged her. She would get annoyed with this silence after a while, scrambling up to go play with her toys. He always watched her go until she was right inside the door, then he would turn his attention back to the water.

One evening she was helping Xue clean up after dinner, and her mommy started to hum a song.

"Mommy, what song is that? I've heard it before." Celeste asked in a small voice, handing her mother a clean plate.

"Your Grandpa Iroh used to sing it to you when you were a baby." Xue said, sitting down and pulling her daughter onto her lap.

"I wish I remembered him." Celeste frowned. "What was he like?"

Her mother's face broke out into a smile. "He was one of the most remarkable people to ever live."

"Was he strong?"

"Oh yes, very strong, but he was kind."

"Lots of people are kind."

"But not like him, he had a special way about him. Your Grandfather helped everyone, no matter what they needed or if he knew them. He would stop complete strangers on the street to compliment them. No matter who needed help, your Grandfather Iroh would always take time to help them with their problem, no matter how big or small it was. It's people like him who change the world Celeste." Xue placed her daughter on the ground, handing her an old loaf of bread. "Go feed this to the turtle ducks."

Celeste nodded, scurrying out of the room. She turned the corner to the pond, expecting to see her daddy sitting there, but he wasn't. She sat down, tossing little flakes of bread into the water until it was gone. She sat and watched the babies follow their mommy around and wished that she had gotten to spend more time with her Grandfather. Everyone seemed to love him so much. She wanted to know him, she knew that they would of gotten along very well, she liked kind people.

She headed back to the kitchen, looking for her mommy, when she heard it. She peeked around the door and saw her daddy. He was sitting down, with mommy behind him, her head resting on his back and arms wrapped around his waist. The tears were flowing down his face, and she watched as he turned, holding onto her mother as if she were saving him from drowning.

"I miss him." He choked out, burying his face in Xue's neck.

Her momma hummed to him, rubbing his back and gently kissing him wherever she could reach.

Celeste hated it. She hated seeing her daddy so upset, he was the strongest, most bravest man in the world, to see him cry was like seeing a huge tidal wave coming towards her, and the fear lodged itself in her belly.

"Daddy!" She ran to him, throwing herself on him and using her tiny sleeve to wipe his tears away. "Don't cry anymore Daddy."

He smiled at her, hugging her in one arm and her mommy in the other.

Celeste began to hum the song her mommy taught her, and she watched as the tears running down her daddy's face slowly stopped. She smiled brightly at him. "You're the greatest Daddy in the world." She told him, standing in his lap and wrapping her arms around his arm.

Her Daddy smiled at her, pulling Xue close and kissing her.

"Ew, I don't wanna see kissing!" Celeste made a disgusted face and scrambled away from her parents, and as she looked back at them sitting by the table she watched her Daddy's face as he smiled.

She hoped she would never have to see him cry again.

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**Also I know Iroh would be her great uncle, but explain the concept of a Great uncle to a young child is confusing, and he would of been more of a grandfather to her than Ozai would of been.**


End file.
